A small, cup-shaped or disc-like structure found on the underside of certain lichens and fungi.
From Greek 'kyphe' (hollow, cup) plus the diminutive suffix '-ella.' The term describes the tiny concave structures that form on lichen thalli.
Lichens are actually two organisms living as one—a fungus and an alga—and these little cup structures called cyphellae may help them exchange materials; it's like discovering tiny breathing holes in a centuries-old partnership!
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